Bar Ferdinando Opens in the Former Ferdinando’s Focacceria

When Francesco “Frank” Buffa, the owner and operator of the 121-year-old Ferdinando’s Focacceria, suddenly closed up shop for good last winter, the collective reaction from fans, locals, and anyone concerned with vanishing New York was grief, quickly followed by questions around what would happen to the space. There was plenty of interest: Buffa, who owns the building, was getting offers slipped under the restaurant’s strangely narrow doors. Sal Lamboglia, who owns Café Spaghetti across the street and two other restaurants close by, got a call from a neighborhood friend and sat down with Buffa for a two-hour afternoon chat with the lights off at Ferdinando’s, “talking about family, life experience, upbringings, kids,” Lamboglia says. Soon after, in the middle of dinner service, his phone rang. “Frank said, ‘Sal, are you ready?’ That was it.” He had the keys the following weekend.

“I’m not resurrecting Ferdinando’s,” Lamboglia is quick to clarify. “I’m not doing that.” After a year of sifting through the photos, relics, dishware, and bottles of antique amari that were left behind, undertaking some necessary upgrades and renovations, installing a proper bar, and giving the space several coats of paint, Lamboglia will instead open Bar Ferdinando on April 15. There’s a not-negligible amount of outside pressure that comes with opening in a spot with over a century of history associated with core memories of crispy chickpea panelle sandwiches and Manhattan Special on draft. Lamboglia has heard the concerns: yellow walls and maroon beadboard remain, much of the artwork remains, and the mismatched tiles remain. But rather than Buffa’s old family photos, there now hang Lamboglia’s old family photos. Still, the place carries a similar spirit as before. “Being in here makes you realize this guy, Frank, spent 53 years in here, in one place, right?” says Lamboglia. “You don’t find that.”

Buffa’s family is Sicilian, Lamboglia’s background — he grew up in an immigrant family in Bensonhurst — is from Naples, and the food at Bar Ferdinando will be regionally agnostic. To start, it will be a true all-day bar, opening at 11 a.m. with baked goods from pastry chef Jackie De La Barrera (who has led pastry programs at Agi’s Counter and Radio Bakery) like bomboloni filled with banana or pistachio cream, semolina cake, and prosciutto-and-Parm scones. De La Barrera’s focaccia will be served during the day, along with Lamboglia’s neighborhood-famous seafood salad with octopus, calamari, lobster, potatoes, parsley, lemon, and olive oil. And expect panelle and rice balls that can be sliced, grilled, and served with marinara. (The dinner menu, which is still under construction, will be a continuation of the same.)

The marble café tables will be available for a quick shot of espresso or for lingering. But instead of Manhattan Special on tap, a handmade version with fresh espresso and seltzer will come from Ricardo Echeverri’s bar program. Echeverri, currently the general manager at Lamboglia’s Swoony’s around the corner, has been making drinks around the city for years — at spots including Hearth, Minetta Tavern, and Frenchette. He’s developed a list of lighter aperitivi, a limoncello spritz, a Milan-esque Campari and soda, and a fennel-forward highball, as well as classics like the Little Italy (a Cynar-inflected Manhattan), a house martini served on the rocks, and an Italian espresso martini.

As the weather warms, guests will be able to enjoy those drinks in the backyard under two fig trees, the sounds of the BQE rushing past in the distance, for as long as they’d like. “Want to pop in for a cocktail or for a coffee? Go ahead, all day,” Lamboglia says. “We don’t close.”